Second Chance
by boozyaunt
Summary: Elizabeth gets a second chance with Rachel after tragedy brings them back together.


A/N: To anyone who read this the first go around, I'm sorry for the repost. My documents kept messing up. Here's to hoping round two works better. The chapters are together now... and I hope to have the actual chapter two ready soon.

Rachel Greene was fourteen years old going on forty. She was a hand full for her mother, really. Her father, Mark, died not too long ago of cancer. . . and when he did, the girl began having even more teen angst problems than she'd had before he'd left her in this world alone.

Like any teen . . . or person who has lost someone they love, the girl was angry at her father for leaving.

How dare he allow his cancer to beat him?

How dare he leave her alone in this world with her mom. . .who Rachel felt didn't understand her! . . . and that wife of his? Elizabeth Corday. . . even though Rachel always pretended to hate her. . . she didn't. . . and there were days she actually found herself missing Elizabeth. In a lot of ways, the woman had been more of a mother than her own had ever been.

Rachel didn't hate Elizabeth. . . she'd just been angry and blamed the woman for her parents never being able to work out their differences. The truth was. . .however. . . her mother and Mark were never a good fit, and as Rachel grew older. . .she started to understand that. . . but like any child who had the idea of a perfect family, she wanted her parents to be together.

Today was like any other day. Rachel's mom was called to pick her up from school after she'd gotten into another fight with her sworn enemy, Bethany Brown. _Ugh_! She hated that bitch with a passion, and today was the final straw for Rachel. When Bethany came up to her and started picking on her again. . .Rachel punched her in the nose.

"You punched her in the nose?" Her mother took a glance toward her daughter before returning her attention to the road.

Rachel's eyes grew wide as she turned toward her mom. "She deserved it!"

"No one deserves to be punched in the nose."

"She did! Not that you care to hear my side of it."

"You were expelled!"

"Yeah. Yeah. I know." Rachel smacked her gum, rolled her eyes and placed her feet up on the dash.

"Feet down."

Rachel huffed. "Dad would've stood up for me."

"Well, your father isn't here anymore is he?"

The car grew silent. Rachel stared at her mother in disbelief. _Had she really just said that?_

"_Rachel_. . . I-"

The girl turned her attention away from her mother and stared out the window. She put her headphones on and wiped the tears which fell from her eyes.

Her mother let out a sigh. If Rachel had seen the expression her mother shared, she would've seen how sorry she was for daring to say that. . . but it didn't matter. . .and it wouldn't have mattered.

The damage was already done.

After several moments of silence, her mother broke the silence. She was talking and talking but Rachel's headphones were too loud for her to hear. The woman reached out to remove the headphones from her ears. That got the girls attention.

The teen turned toward her mother. "What? Reminding me dad is dead not enough for you? You wish to rub it in more?"

The girl jumped out of the moving vehicle. Her body fell onto the asphalted highway. Her bones cracked in all sorts of places, but thanks to the instant wave of shock which took over her entire form, she didn't feel any of it. . now, anyway. She rolled across the road and her body didn't stop until she was on the side.

The elder woman sighed. "No. Rachel, I-"

"-Save your breath for someone who cares, Mom. You know? I always wanted to live and be with dad. You brainwashed me to believe he was the bad one. He wasn't! I see that now. He was just busy. . . you were always busy too! Yet somehow he got the blame. . and now he's dead! Now he's gone. . . and all I have left in this world is you." Rachel began crying. All she saw was a blur through the tears falling from her eyes.

"I'm sorry you feel that way."

"I do. I hate you!" Rachel wiped her eyes. "Let me out of the car!"

"At seventy-five miles an hour on the highway? No."

"Pull over! Let me out of the car! Right now."

"No."

Rachel began pulling on the handle.

Her mother locked the doors. She unlocked them. Her mother pulled again. Rachel's heart pounded. Her body was hot. She was so angry, she wasn't thinking clearly!

"Rachel stop! You're going to get us killed."

"Better than continuing living a lie that life can go on without dad!" She lifted the lock again, and this time it worked and she was able to grab the handle. Thankfully, her mother had moved over into the slow lane and was going much slower now. . . but not enough to not cause damage if she chose to jump out of the car.

The girl opened the door.

"RACHEL!" Her mother screamed bloody murder. Her eyes were wide. . . Rachel saw as she turned her head and unbuckled her seat-belt.

That horrifying sight of her mother would be the last the girl ever saw of the woman. . .

**RACHEL! **that was the voice of her mother shouting from the car.

She couldn't move. Her eyes were open but all she could see was sky.

_Is this the end? _

_Will I finally join you in Paradise, Dad? _

**RACHEL!**

_Wait for me, Daddy. _

_Will you be there when I open my eyes. _

**RACHEL!**

She blinked again. Her eyes admired the clouds above.

. . . and just before they closed there was a loud . . . _**HOOOOONNNNKKK! HOOONNNNKKKK! CRAAAAAAAAAAASH! BEEEEEEP! BEEP! SKIRRRRRRTT! SCRREEEETCH! **_

_**to be continued. . . **_


End file.
